Wiretap: GOP shutdown as long-planned strategy or tragic blunder

As we enter Day 7 of the government shutdown, we lead with dueling explanations for how we got to this point and where it will all lead. The New York Times says conservative activists have planned this for months. Washington Examiner writer Byron York quotes a GOP congressman saying it was all a blunder.

Ed Meese and the conservative blueprint to defund Obamacare. Via New York Times.

Unnamed GOP congressman tells Byron York how Boehner bumbled his way into shutdown. Via Washington Examiner.

In an in-depth interview, Justice Scalia says he suspects he has gay friends. Via New York magazine

The coming Supreme Court session could be disaster for liberals. Via LA Times.

A decade-later look at the effects of the California recall election that recalled Gray Davis, a man with a name from a Hollywood script, and installed Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Governator, a man made in Hollywood.

Current California Governor Jerry Brown signed eight bills into law on Saturday (immigrant’s rights day) that vastly expand the rights of undocumented immigrants in California.

While the US Government remains shut-down, the Swiss people have demanded a referendum that could provide $2800 a month in guaranteed monthly income for all adults. Via Gawker >